Weekly Post: from Leaning Birch

This week's post o' the week is from Leaning Birch:

Wednesday, October 19, 2005 

The Legend of the Spider People              

For Sara Gwenllian Jones~

Spider People, as the legend goes, look much like periwinkles when they're cold. They huddle together on the back of Champ, the legendary sea monster of Lake Champlain.

In the summer, they reflect sunlight like scales. In the winter, they remain on the ice flows, but their bodies are so iridescent that one can't see them through the crystals of snow.

They feed on the sloughing of Champ skin except that Champ’s dander is more like the slime of overcooked okra. Think freshwater dust mites chewing on prehistoric, wet, scale residue...

Read more at Leaning Birch, or find the slightly edited version on page 62A of this week's Seven Days. If you're wondering, "how do I get my blog into this column," consider this: I'm looking for writing that's fairly brief (about 200 words or so, less if there's an image). It should be creative, maybe about Vermont, able to stand alone in a newspaper and be interesting to the casual reader. And it should make people want to read blogs. If you want to suggest a post for consideration (feel free, but only if you're on my blogroll), send ideas to me at cathy@sevendaysvt.com. Please don't send more than one per week.